Fate
by ReadingWhiz89
Summary: [Mangaverse. MAJOR SPOILERS] Vash the Stampede is at death's door but faces his elder brother Knives, anyway. But, can the outcome be anything but a tragedy? Oneshot.


Disclaimer: Trigun belongs to Yasuhiro Nightow. I am a lowly peon compared to him so how could I possibly own something as great as Trigun?

A/N: Well, people, this is a story I wrote for a contest at a Trigun forum. It is my take on what will happen at the end of Trigun Maximum. So, if you haven't read Trigun Maximum, there are some MAJOR spoilers here. And even if you have read some, most likely you STILL won't know what's happening because I have been given spoilers up through Volume 14 of Maximum. So, if spoilers strike you as evil, do not read this.

* * *

Fate 

Vash the Stampede leaned heavily against a nearby wall, his breaths coming in deep and ragged gasps. His coat was wet and heavy, it's already crimson color stained an even deeper red with his own blood. He held his silver .45 Colt in his hand loosely, the gun barely gripped by his nearly nerveless fingers. His hair, once blond, was now a charcoal black, except for a few strands of blond. They symbolized something.

His life was nearly at an end.

Vash choked and coughed up blood, wiping the crimson dribble on his sleeve. Blood leaked from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eyes cried crimson. And yet, he walked.

Each step was agony. Vash bit his tongue to keep from crying out in pain each time he took a step. Finally, he stopped after one particularly painful step. He slipped in a puddle of his own blood and fell heavily to the ground.

He screamed.

Shuddering, he let himself lie on his back, his blood streaked face turned toward the heavens. He could see Knives, his brother, a beacon in the darkness, for the darkness. All the while, the Earth ship of Kronika tried to bring his glowing Plant form down. All their attempts were failing. Knives had the upper hand, and even in his demented state, he knew it.

Vash closed his eyes. All he wanted to do was stay here. To not have to get up again. To just die in peace. That's what every sane person wanted, right? After all the long torture sessions with Legato, Vash was finally beginning to feel worn down. It was more than the fact that he was dying. It was more than the fact that it was his own brother who ordered all this pain and suffering on him. There was more.

After 150 years of trials, tribulation, and sorrow, Vash had nothing to show for it. All the people he had met, all those he had saved, those numbers paled in comparison to how many he had destroyed.

July.

The Fifth Moon.

Both had disappeared or suffered damage in a flash of blinding light. Because of him. Because of what he was. Because he was different.

It wrenched at Vash's heart.

Wolfwood was dead.

Meryl and Millie had probably perished as well.

Kronika would fall.

The human race would become extinct.

No one was going to save them.

_Rem... What...what should I do?_

Vash cracked his eyes open into slits and turned his gaze towards the heavens once more and continued to watch the battle with unseeing eyes.

_I have lost so much. More than anyone should ever have to lose. I know that. But...I've never gained anything. Everything I gain is snatched away. And I never get it back. Because of what I am. I never asked to be different. I never asked for any of it. If there is such a thing as Fate, It must be laughing at me..._

Vash squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes, the salty liquid following grooves in his face where blood had dried and cracked.

Vash cried, tears and mucus dribbling down his chin.

And yet, even as sobs wracked his already pained form, he turned himself over onto his stomach. Then, he pushed up with both hands, lifting himself onto his hands and knees, limbs shaking unsteadily beneath him. He then attempted to push himself to his feet.

He failed.

After falling several times, he finally managed to stand, his body weak and shivery from the effort.

_If I stop now, everything will have been for nothing! The sacrifices of so many... They should not go to waste!_

Vash wobbled unsteadily on his feet. Then, hunched over and caked with his own blood, Vash the Stampede began to walk.

* * *

Knives grinned wildly, his eyes glittering with an insane glee. 

The foolish humans! They continued to try and bring him down. They were fools! After absorbing his sisters, Knives was invincible! No one could touch him as his glowing form lit up the sky.

_Kronika...fool..._ he said to himself, the thoughts coming only in bits and pieces. His mind seemed too unstable to handle more.

The Earth ship tried to fire more Plant neutralizers at him. He dodged them easily enough. His grin widened.

_Persist...why?...in...evit...able..._

Knives shrieked in laughter as he released his own collective energy on the Earth ships, destroying one and crippling another. He continued his rampage until only one ship remained. Kronika's ship.

Knives's eyes gleamed with triumph as he prepared to destroy the last of his enemies.

_'Knives...'_

Knives halted. A voice. A voice he knew. It sounded familiar. Didn't it?

He looked down towards the sandy ball of dirt known as Gunsmoke. A lone figure, garbed in crimson, stood amist the rubble and debris. Knives smiled wickedly. Yes, Knives remembered now, if in fragments. Legato had let his fool brother escape. Of course, death had been his punishment. Crimson Nail had also suffered a similar fate since Knives had had no use for him anymore. It was fine, though. Both had been happy to die.

_'Brother...Vash...nice...see...you...enjoy...ing...show?'_

Knives felt the other's anger. _'No. Leave them out of this Knives. This is between you and me.'_

Knives shrieked in laughter again. _'Fool...I..stronger...you...'_

_'You aren't.'_

Knives scowled. _'Yes...I...am!'_

Vash shook his head. _'If you're stronger, why can't you absorb me like you did all the others?'_

Knives screamed in rage.

_'My Gate is stronger than yours.'_

Knives howled in fury. _'No...weak...ling...I...you!'_

With an ear-splitting shriek, a sound that reflected the voices of thousands of Plant sisters, Knives streaked down toward the one who had so grievously insulted him.

* * *

Vash smiled grimly, although it looked more like a grimace. Taunting Knives into charging had been the general idea, and it had worked thanks to the Knives's mental instability. But... 

Vash could barely stand. His limbs felt watery, and the blood loss was making him feel light-headed. His vision was going double, and he didn't know how much longer he had before his life was snuffed out like a candle.

He knew his silver Colt was useless to him in a fight such as this. He had a plan, but whether or not it would work was an entirely different story. Kronika hadn't had any success against Knives, and even though Vash was a Plant, his chances didn't look too good either, especially since he had only a short time left to live.

But, he was determined to try.

Vash dropped his gun and raised his right arm up with his prosthetic one since he couldn't hold the right arm aloft on its own. He leaned against a piece of rubble to steady himself as he aimed.

Knives was coming on fast. His face was twisted into an almost animalistic snarl, his pointed teeth bared. Vash closed his eyes and opened them slowly, preparing for what he was about to do.

Vash took a deep breath as his right arm began to morph. Feathers sprouted from his right arm. The limb began to lose its shape as feathers overtook it. Vash gritted his teeth against the pain. Forming the Angel Arm had never felt comfortable to him, but it was even worse now since his energy was almost gone.

Vash's vision trippled as he pushed all his remaining energy into one final blast. As the energy gathered slowly, Vash felt his body being drained. The process wasn't pleasant either. Vash groaned as his Angel Arm finally took shape.

Knives had almost reached him. Vash closed his eyes, desperately trying to hold onto the energy because he knew, once it left him, his body would be left berefit of life energy. And he would die.

Suddenly, Vash felt Knives reach him. As Knives clamped his left arm over Vash's right, Vash snapped his eyes open. Knives was right up in his face, his body glowing bright enough to blind Vash at this close proximity.

Vash gazed into his elder brother's power-crazed eyes...

...and smiled...

Then, Vash released his hold on the Angel Arm and was overtaken by a blinding flash of light.

Before he disappeared, Vash sighed contentedly, finally ready for the rest that had been denied him for so long.

* * *

Meryl covered her eyes as the blinding flash of light on the battlefield overtook her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut, wondering if this was truly the end for them all and if they were all about to die. She gritted her teeth, refusing to let herself cry out in fear. 

However, as the light faded from behind her closed eyelids, she cracked them open slowly. Dust and debris was everywhere, obscurring her vision. However, she could still see the area where the light had come from, its light flickering slowly before it died.

Meryl looked around. She had been trying to prevent the Gunsmoke militia from intervening in the battle against Vash's older brother Knives, but it hadn't helped very much. Millie was also here with her, although Meryl wasn't exactly sure where Millie was now since the two had become separated.

Meryl got to her feet slowly, feeling a bit stuff. She stretched a little before scrutinizing her surroundings carefully. The last thing she remembered was Knives charging down toward something.

_Or some**one**,_ she corrected herself.

She dusted herself off slightly and made sure her derringer cloak was secure about her. She also checked to make sure her extra shirt and pair of overalls were alright. Then, Meryl drew two derringers and held them at ready in her hands.

Just in case.

As she picked her way through the rubble and debris, she began to notice something odd. Everything was quiet. No explosions rocking the skies, no blinding flashes of light, no nothing. And even stranger...

...was the fact that Knives was nowhere to be seen.

Meryl tried to keep her sense of direction straight since most of the rubble looked the same. She often had to walk around particularly large pieces and go out of her way, but she tried to keep going in the same direction towards where she had seen the light flicker and die.

"SEMPAI!"

Meryl almost jumped out of her skin but sighed with relief when she saw it was only Millie. The tall brunette was waving her arms wildly at Meryl and grinning happily. Meryl smiled slightly at her friend's enthusiasm as she went to meet her, holstering her derringers in the process.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Millie."

Millie grinned. "I'm just fine, Sempai! Livio-san helped me!"

A tall, broad figure stepped out from behind a chunk of debris. His unshaven face was horribly scarred and his unruly blond hair was covered by a wide-rimmed black hat. His ragged back cloak blew in the wind, revealing the Double Fang hanging by his sides near his white shirt and black pants.

Meryl stared up at him. His appearance was always fearsome, but he really wasn't as a person. "Thank you, Livio-san," she said.

Livio shifted his weight. "Your welcome," he said.

"Sempai, what're you doing out here? Are you looking for someone?"

Meryl nodded. "I'm looking for Vash-san, and my only clue to where he might be is where that blinding flash of light was."

"Oh, I remember seeing that!" Millie exclaimed. "It was right over that way! I was going to find you and tell you, Sempai, but one of the ships Vash-san's brother destroyed nearly crashed into me! I was lucky Livio-san saved me."

Meryl stared at Livio, who was fidgeting a little and looking a bit embarrassed by the attention. "I'm grateful to you, Livio-san," she said kindly.

"It was no trouble," he mumbed.

Meryl smiled a bit at his behavior. "We better get going," she said.

As Meryl took the lead of the small group, she began to wonder what had become of Vash. The last time she had seen him, he was on his way to face his brother Knives, his hair already mostly black. Before he had left, both of them had kissed their own hands and mashed their knuckles together. It had been a different kind of farewell.

As she trudged through the wreckage, she wondered at it.

"Sempai, look!"

Meryl jerked her head up, her thoughts scattering. Then she saw.

Vash was propped up against a large chunk of debris, both arms hanging limply at his sides, his whole body slumped forward. As Meryl rushed to his side, she saw another body not too far away. It was a man in the nude with pale blond hair and a striking resemblance to Vash. Except, his body was burned to the point of being charcoal. His eyes were wide open and staring, his empty gaze turned towards the sky.

_That must be Knives,_ Meryl thought, her mind numb with shock.

She turned her attention back to Vash. She gasped when she saw his once once hair had gone completely black. Not one streak of blond remained. She pushed him up, propping his back against the stone. She looked at his blood-caked face and beheld the oddest expression she had ever seen.

He was...smiling, his blank stare almost happy.

Meryl blinked, not sure if her eyes were decieving her or not. The smile was sad, but he seemed...at peace. For the first time since she had known him, he was...at peace, however odd that might sound.

She reached out and touched his hair lightly. It felt rough and coarse, as if it had been burned. It was so strange. She had never imagined it possble that Vash the Stampede, the legendary outlaw, could...could...

...die.

Meryl blinked rapidly, her eyes burning and throat tight. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he should have a fate like this. After everything he had been through, he didn't deserve this.

Fate was so cruel.

Meryl reached for him and began to cradle his dead body in her arms, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. _What kind of world do we live in where the good perish along with the wicked?_

"Sempai?" came Millie's hesitant query.

Meryl sniffled a bit and stood. She faced Millie, unaware that her own clothing had become stained with Vash's blood. "He's dead, Millie."

Millie gasped. "Sempai, how do you think-?"

"I don't know," Meryl whispered.

"There's someone coming," Livio said.

Meryl looked around and saw several uniformed men, as well as one young woman, who had thin, wavy blond hair as well as an air of authority about her. She swiftly ordered the men to check the bodies of Vash and Knives.

"They're dead, Captain Kronika," an officer reported.

"I see," she said, her voice thoughtful.

"What shall we do with the bodies?"

"Leave them."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kronika walked up to Meryl. Meryl stiffened a bit, trying to regain some of her composure. The other looked down at her, her expression solemn.

"I am sorry for your loss."

Meryl nodded, not trusting herself to speak to this woman whom she had never met before.

"I will be leaving soon in an attempt to negotiate with the Gunsmoke authorities. I will explain the situation and tell them it has been resolved."

Meryl nodded again.

Kronika stared at her silently for a moment before leaving, along with her men.

Meryl blankly watched Kronika go. Then, she looked at Vash one last time. To her horror, his whole body was slowly turning black. She quickly looked at Knives and saw the same thing was happening.

_What is going on?_

"Sempai, what's happening to them?"

"I-I don't know!" Meryl stuttered.

As the two Plant twins turned black, their bodies began to crumble rapidly, and the scent of smoke and ash filled the air. Meryl watched, horror-stricken, as Vash disintegrated before her eyes.

Meryl sunk to the ground, unable to watch anymore. Millie tried to comfort her while Livio just looked on from the sidelines, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Meryl's shoulders shook.

Finally, when she managed to get herself back under control, she stood, with Millie's support. "Millie, I want...I need to leave."

Millie nodded her understanding. "Ok, Sempai. Let's go. Come on, Livio-san!"

Meryl shuddered as they walked. So many horrible things had happened. Why did it all have to end this way?

Suddenly, a loud cry pierced the silence. Meryl turned her head this way and that, unsure where it was coming from.

Then, another cry broke the stillness.

Two voices were crying.

And the sounds were coming from where they had just come from.

Meryl threw off Millie's support and flat-out ran back to where she had left Vash and Knives. _Could it be...?_

As she skidded to a halt, what she saw astounded her.

Two male newborns were sitting in the clearing, each one sitting in a pile of ashes. Both were wailing loudly, their mouths wide open for better volume. Then, they saw her...

...and stopped crying, staring at her curiously.

One had pale blond hair and clear blue eyes. The other had golden blond hair with aqua eyes and a beauty mark under his left eye.

Meryl gasped. _Vash...and Knives?_

"Sempai! What's happening?"

Millie and Livio were close behind Meryl as they stopped. Then, they saw the children. Millie immediately scooped Knives into her arms.

"Oh, they're so cute!" she squealed, pinching Knives chubby cheeks, who in turn gurgled at her.

"Millie...that's Knives."

Millie looked up cheerfully. "I know, but look at him, Sempai! He's so cute, and he's just a baby! Can we keep him, please?"

Meryl shook her head, bemused. "Well, I suppose. But we'll have to keep an eye on him. He might revert to his old self again."

"Oh, thank you, Sempai! Look, Livio-san! Isn't he cute?"

"Oh, uh, well, I guess," he stuttered.

Millie smiled. "Oh, this is wonderful! We can be a great, big happy family! Sempai, me, Vash-san, his brother, and Livio-san!"

"M-me?" Livio asked.

"Yes, silly! Who else did you think I was talking about?"

Livio stuttered a bit before giving up. Meryl smiled at his antics with Millie. They were funny together.

"Ooga! Goo-goo!" Vash babbled in baby talk, his arms outstretched toward Meryl.

Meryl smiled again and him up, cradling Vash in her arms. Vash began to point at her, frowning slightly, as if in thought. He started to speak.

"Merrrrrr..."

Meryl blinked. _What was he saying?_

Vash frowned some more. "Merrrrrr...Merrrrrrrrl...Merrllll!"

Meryl paled. _He's trying to say my name!_

"Wow, Sempai! Vash-san is already trying to talk! He's a smart one!"

"Yes, he is," Meryl said, her voice dazed.

"Sempai, can we keep both of them? PLEASE?"

Meryl nodded absently.

"Oh, THANK YOU, Sempai!" Millie exclaimed. "This is so wonderful! Wait until I tell my Big-Big Sister about this!"

Meryl chuckled and smiled. She looked Vash straight in the eye. "Well, it looks like you're going to live with us now. You better behave yourself, too," she told him sternly, "you AND your brother."

Vash gurgled and began yanking on his mouth with his finger. Meryl sighed. "I guess that'll have to do."

"Merrrrrrrlllllll!" Vash exclaimed.

Meryl smiled. "Millie, come on! We have to find someplace to raise these boys so no one knows what they are."

"I know, Sempai! Let's go live with my family! They'll love them! And," she added, "I'm sure they would love it if you came, too, Livio-san!"

"Well, alright," Livio said, a little hesitantly.

"Don't worry! It'll be fun!" Millie assured him.

Meryl shook her head, smiling. _Well, if there is such a thing as Fate, It sure has a bizarre sense of humor._

_

* * *

_

And I bet all of you people thought it was going to have a sad ending. Hehe, are you surprised? I hope so. Also, please keep in mind that this story is completely original besides the fact that it's based on the manga. I hope you enjoyed it. Now...

PRESS THE PRETTY PURPLE BUTTON!


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